9/1/2011
Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton
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22 Injured, Including Crew Members, When Amtrak Train Derails

An Amtrak train known as the California Zephyr, which runs between Chicago and Los Angeles, experienced its second major accident within two months when it derailed in Nebraska (NE) after colliding with a crane on August 26, 2011. Twenty-two people -- including passengers, two people outside the train and Amtrak crew members -- suffered injuries when several cars and the locomotive of the train ran off the rails. Those injuries varied in severity but did include "back and next injuries," according to an official overseeing response to the derailment.

The California Zephyr was also the passenger train involved in the horrific railroad crossing collision near Reno, Nevada (NV), on June 24, 2011, which killed six people, including an Amtrak conductor. Twenty other people aboard the Zephyr were burned or injured. The train crew was not at fault in either accident. A semi driver ignored signals and crossing gates before slamming into the train in Nevada; in Nebraska, the crane operator had placed his machine too close to the tracks.

Crashes and derailments are ever-present dangers for trains and the people who ride and crew them. It may be uncommon for the same train to experience both kinds of major accidents in a period of 62 days, but the unlikeness of the coincidence provides little consolation to the passengers, conductors, engineers and other railroad employees hurt and killed in Nevada and Nebraska.

As a Virginia FELA attorney, I know, as everyone should, that "right of way" means both the tracks on which trains travel and the precedence trains have to travel through an intersection before any other vehicles or pedestrians. Failing to respect either type of a train's right of way too often causes needless injuries and deaths.

EJL
 

Category: Railroad Injury/FELA

Labels: Amtrak back and neck injuries California Zephyr derailment conductor crew members crossing gates deaths killed Norfolk Southern passengers pedestrians railroad crossing Reno train crash train right of way vehicles Virginia FELA attorney

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm whose attorneys focus on personal injury and accident law and have handled hundreds of Federal Employers' Liability Act claims for railroad workers hurt or made ill while doing their rail jobs. We also have represented many people injured in train accidents. Please take a few moments to review our railroad injury case results. Our primary offices are in Virginia Beach and Hampton, VA, but we're ready to come to you anywhere in Virginia if you've been seriously hurt by someone else's carelessness.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been included among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008, and have been named Virginia Super Lawyers for Personal Injury Law since 2010. Fewer than 5 percent of lawyers are chosen for this professional honor.

In addition, we were the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical and respected law firms. Our firm has the highest rating of AV from Martindale-Hubbell, a national lawyer ranking organization, which means we have a reputation for preeminent legal skill. Our attorneys have even been included in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009.

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